Instructor Ken Kersh delivers excellent verbal instruction in T'ai Chi Ch'uan for Health: Yang Style, a step-by-step guide to the Yang Style (Short Form) sequence. The program opens with Kersh's overlaid narration discussing the benefits of t'ai chi ch'uan, followed by an overview of the basic principles, and then detailed instruction of the movements (including the very helpful suggestion of what percentage of your weight should be on which leg during the movements--a great aid in balancing). While the video qualities and camerawork are bland at best, the audio is muddy and therefore distracting. Better than T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Movements of Power and Health, reviewed in our November 1992 issue), this is still a far cry from the superior T'ai Chi for Health: Yang Short Form with Terry Dunn (reviewed in our July-August 1990 issue).T'ai Chi Chung for Beginners, Part 1 introduces viewers to a branch of T'ai Chi which places greater emphasis on the martial aspect of the art. Featuring the semi-washed out look endemic to low-budget video, the program features different pairs of instructors demonstrating a series of moves in five lessons. While the instruction is more "watch and learn" than step-by-step instruction, viewers should have little difficulty learning the moves. Too, although the T'ai Chi Ch'uan subject area is fairly glutted with entries on video, Tai Chi Chung is not.T'ai Chi Ch'uan for Health: Yang Style is not a necessary purchase. Tai Chi Chung for Beginners is recommended for libraries with larger martial arts collections. (R. Pitman)
T'ai Chi Ch'uan For Health: Yang Style; Tai Chi Chung For Beginners, Part 1
(1993) 74 min. $29.95. Kersh/Costanza Productions (dist. by The Duplication Connection). PPR. Color cover. Vol. 9, Issue 2
T'ai Chi Ch'uan For Health: Yang Style; Tai Chi Chung For Beginners, Part 1
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